Highlights in the history of 'Hockey Night in Canada'

The announcement that George Stroumboulopoulos will be the new host of "Hockey Night in Canada" is the latest step in the show's long, storied history. Here are just a few highlights:

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Oct. 11, 1952: Canada's first televised hockey game airs. Rene Lecavalier handles play-by-play in French for the match between the Montreal Canadiens and the Detroit Red Wings.

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Nov. 1, 1952: Foster Hewitt calls the first English-language broadcast of a hockey game, this time between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins. This, like all broadcasts for the next 16 years, is joined mid-game.

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1955: Producer George Retzlaff uses a kinescope replay to re-examine a goal, introducing one of the first incarnations of what came to be known as instant replay.

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1957: Changes in technology allow the show to air games from coast to coast at the same time.

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Oct. 11, 1958: Foster Hewitt turns over the play-by-play reins to his son Bill, taking the new role of colour commentator for himself.

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1966: CBC begins airing hockey games in colour.

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1968: "Hockey Night in Canada" begins showing regular-season games in full, moving the start time up to 8 p.m. from 8:30 p.m. This season also sees the debut of "The Hockey Theme," the syncopated, iconic song that ushered in "HNIC" broadcasts for the next 40 years.

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1970: The Vancouver Canucks join the NHL, giving "HNIC" a third Canadian team to promote and work into its schedule

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1979: The show's scope expands when the Edmonton Oilers, Winnipeg Jets and Quebec Nordiques join the NHL. With the addition of the Calgary Flames a year later, "Hockey Night in Canada" has a total of seven Canadian teams to highlight.

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1980: Don Cherry is hired to provide commentary between periods and quickly settles into a segment dubbed "Coach's Corner." Cherry initially offered his analysis alone, but was eventually joined by then-host Dave Hodge.

January 1995: "Hockey Night in Canada" becomes a double-header, with an East Coast game airing around 7 p.m. followed by a West Coast game starting around 10 p.m.

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January 2004: Don Cherry's controversial remarks about the use of visors in the NHL, in which he says they were mostly warn by "French guys" and Europeans, prompts CBC to place his segment on a seven-second tape delay for the rest of the season.

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June 2008: CBC announces that it has not been able to renew the rights to "The Hockey Theme." The rights are subsequently acquired by TSN. CBC ultimately runs a nationwide contest to select a replacement.

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Nov. 26, 2013: Rogers Communications announces it has secured the national broadcasting rights for NHL games in a deal worth $5.2 billion. A sub-licensing agreement will allow CBC to continue airing "Hockey Night in Canada" on Saturdays and extends French language rights to TVA in Quebec.

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March 10, 2014: Rogers announces veteran CBC-TV personality George Stroumboulopoulos will be the next host of "Hockey Night in Canada" in its first major personnel change since acquiring the NHL broadcast rights in November.